The sun was still high when the battle resumed.
The demons' brief retreat had not lasted long.
As soon as they reorganized their ranks, they advanced once more.
This time in greater numbers.
I watched the horizon while gripping my sword. A massive dark horde was slowly moving toward us. Even from afar, it was possible to feel the pressure that army exerted.
Human soldiers prepared themselves behind the barricades.
Adventurers checked their weapons.
Mages began gathering mana.
The sound of drums echoed across the battlefield.
It felt as though the very ground was trembling.
Beside me, Scarlett watched the enemy's advance.
"There are more of them than before."
"I noticed too."
She smiled.
"Good."
I looked at her.
"You're the only person who's happy to see more demons."
"More targets."
I shook my head with a quiet sigh.
Rai'kanna burst into laughter.
"I like that way of thinking."
Vespera crossed her arms.
"You two are crazy."
"Says the archer who shoots arrows into eyes from hundreds of meters away."
"That's called skill."
"Sure."
Before the discussion could continue, Lyannis called our attention.
"They're advancing."
Everyone turned their eyes forward.
The distance between the armies was closing rapidly.
The soldiers began taking their positions.
Liriel took a deep breath.
"I'll keep the healing lines ready."
"You can count on me for magical protection too," Elara said.
I nodded.
"We're going to stop them from advancing."
The girls agreed.
Then the battle began.
A rain of arrows crossed the sky.
The archers on both sides fired almost simultaneously.
Hundreds of projectiles streaked across the battlefield.
Then came the magic.
Fireballs.
Ice spears.
Lightning.
Explosions erupted everywhere.
The front lines collided seconds later.
The impact was brutal.
Soldiers and demons crashed together like two massive waves.
The sound of weapons echoed in every direction.
Without wasting any time, I charged forward.
My golden sword shone brightly.
The first demon tried to strike me with a massive axe.
I dodged with ease.
One slash.
The enemy fell.
Another appeared immediately.
Then another.
And another.
There was no time to rest.
With every step, more enemies emerged.
Around me, the entire battlefield had descended into chaos.
Scarlett raised both hands.
An enormous amount of mana began gathering around her.
The lightning exploded an instant later.
A gigantic electrical discharge tore through dozens of demons at once.
Their screams echoed across the battlefield.
Many enemies fell instantly.
Others were left gravely wounded.
Scarlett continued advancing.
Each spell wiped out entire groups.
Even experienced soldiers stopped to watch.
A nearby commander widened his eyes.
"Incredible..."
I understood his reaction.
Even after traveling beside her for so long, her powers still managed to amaze me.
Meanwhile, Vespera had taken a high position near several rocks.
She calmly surveyed the battlefield.
She never wasted arrows.
Every shot had a specific target.
Commanders.
Leaders.
Enemy mages.
Always the most dangerous targets.
I watched as one arrow crossed the entire battlefield and struck a demon commanding an assault unit.
The enemy fell instantly.
Minutes later, another commander met the same fate.
Then another.
The organization of the demon forces began to crumble.
Without realizing it, many of them were losing their leaders.
Vespera simply kept firing.
Cold.
Precise.
Relentless.
Rai'kanna, on the other hand, did exactly the opposite.
She wasn't looking for specific targets.
She simply advanced.
Her massive axe crushed everything before her.
When I saw her leading a group of human soldiers against a demon formation, I understood why so many called her a walking storm.
She carved a path straight through the enemy.
The soldiers gained courage when they saw her advancing.
Soon, dozens began following her.
The frontal charge pushed the demons backward.
For a few moments, that entire sector fell under our control.
"Keep pushing forward!"
Rai'kanna's voice echoed across the battlefield.
The soldiers answered with battle cries.
That lifted everyone's morale.
Farther behind, Liriel worked without rest.
Her staff glowed constantly.
The wounded were brought to her.
Some arrived in critical condition.
Even so, they continued to survive thanks to her spells.
The light of healing illuminated the battlefield again and again.
Many soldiers who should have died returned to battle because of her.
Time after time, I saw warriors rejoining the front lines after receiving treatment.
Her presence was saving countless lives.
Elara never stopped either.
Her winds protected the archers.
Deflected projectiles.
Pushed enemies back.
Created openings for the soldiers to advance.
Lyannis remained focused on coordinating everything.
Through communication magic, she sent information to multiple groups at the same time.
It would have been practically impossible to coordinate a battlefield of that size without someone like her.
The battle continued for hours.
The sun slowly began to descend.
But the fighting never lessened.
The farther I advanced, the more I realized the true scale of that war.
It wasn't like fighting monsters in a dungeon.
It wasn't like completing missions.
It wasn't even like facing a regular army.
This was different.
Very different.
I looked around.
I saw wounded soldiers.
I saw exhausted adventurers.
I saw men and women fighting even after surpassing their limits.
War consumed everything.
Time.
Strength.
Hope.
Lives.
For the first time since the conflict had begun, I realized something I had not fully understood until then.
This was only a part of the demon army.
Only a fraction.
The true army of the Demon King was far larger.
Far more terrifying.
If this battle was already so difficult, what would the next ones be like?
The question remained in my mind.
A shout caught my attention.
A group of demons had broken through part of the defensive line.
I immediately ran toward them.
Several soldiers were being overwhelmed.
Without hesitation, I charged.
My sword cut through the first enemies.
Then the next ones.
And several more.
The soldiers seized the opening.
Soon we managed to stabilize that sector once again.
A young soldier let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you..."
I nodded.
"Stay alive."
He smiled.
"I'll try."
That simple answer made me reflect.
Everyone there was trying to survive.
Every single one of them.
When the fighting spread across the battlefield once again, I kept fighting.
The hours felt endless.
Blood covered the ground.
Dust filled the air.
The sound of weapons never completely faded.
But little by little, something began to change.
First in one sector.
Then another.
And another.
The demons were losing ground.
Vespera had eliminated numerous commanders.
Scarlett was destroying entire formations.
Rai'kanna continued pressing the front line.
The soldiers were motivated.
The adventurers fought with everything they had.
Then it happened.
The demon troops began to retreat.
At first, it looked like they were simply reorganizing.
But they weren't.
Soon it became clear.
They were truly falling back.
One unit after another abandoned their positions.
The cheers of the allied soldiers immediately echoed across the battlefield.
Morale soared.
Some raised their weapons toward the sky.
Others celebrated.
Many simply collapsed onto the ground from sheer exhaustion.
I looked toward the horizon.
The demons continued retreating.
It wasn't a complete withdrawal.
But it was significant.
Far more than the day before.
Scarlett approached me.
She looked tired, but satisfied.
"We're winning."
I looked at the enemy forces pulling away.
Then at the countless wounded soldiers around us.
Then I shook my head.
"We're surviving."
She fell silent.
Because she understood exactly what I meant.
That war was far from over.
Very far.
The battlefield gradually grew quieter.
The healers returned to work.
The support teams began reorganizing everything.
Night slowly approached.
I looked north.
Somewhere beyond that horizon.
Somewhere beyond the demon forces.
The First General was still waiting.
And no matter how many victories we achieved, I knew the true battle had yet to begin.
As I watched the last enemy groups disappear into the distance, only one certainty remained in my mind.
The war was far greater than I had imagined.
And we were only in its first days.
With that thought, I remained watching the darkening horizon as the demons retreated once again, bringing an end to the battle that would become known by many soldiers as the Bloody Day.